Logan's Variant: Befuddlers

They hardly seem a threat at first. Smallish things with sleek, sparkling bodies, like river fish, only scurrying about on awkward legs like opossums.

Then a bedevilment comes over you!

First they nibble on your syntax. You might grasp at words but they won’t go together in sensible ways! When they’ve eaten that, they’ll move on to your large words! You can almost see they joy in their eyes as they savor the best of your vocabulary! If they haven’t gorged themselves by that point, they’ll munch on your “ands” and “buts” just to have a reserve for the lean times.

If you survive the encounter, it’ll take a few days to recover your ability to speak, or even understand speech! Then the true horror will set in every time you fumble for the right word. Is it gone? Did they take it forever?

Cody M's First Variant: Rust Monster Eggs

Rust monster eggs look like spider sacs. If you poke the sac it will explode into a swarm of tiny rust monsters, and like baby vipers that can't control their poison output, baby rust monsters are extremely potent in their ability to convert metal to rust.

Cody M's Second Variant: Mold Monsters

What if rust monsters got trapped outside the dungeon, in a forest, and instead of expiring, found some way to adapt and eat wood. Over generations, they become mold monsters that turn wood into mold. A party's shields, staves, and even holy symbols might be a target. Also their food and water might be tainted by all the resulting mold.